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recipe: ethiopian-style vegetables

Ethiopian might be my very favorite cuisine to consume. I can still remember the first time I had Ethiopian, sitting on the floor in the middle of packed hole-in-the-wall in Washington D.C., slightly drunk on honey wine, looking at my friends quizzically as they tore injera and dug in, and dumbfoundedly asking where my fork was. It was love at first bite. Many, many years later I am lucky to live in a city that has a few proper (and amazing) Ethiopian restaurants.

It’s a cuisine with a very unique and intriguing flavor profile. And, in truth, in ten years of trying to make Ethiopian at home, it just is never the same as it is when made by Ethiopians. Though, I’m told by a few of them, it has to do with some spices they import to use in the restaurant from their homeland that you cannot buy in the states (or, rather, can’t buy unless you live in a large urban area with an Ethiopian market, which I do not). I’m pretty sure they may just be trying to make me feel better. But, the stuff I make at home is lick the bowl good, so I’m not terribly upset about the situation (but, as a spice junkie, I do wonder about the gesho and if it’s worth ordering and paying to have it shipped, amongst other things).